"it's no use pretending we have much love for our neighbors. you may say: i'm not doing anyone any harm. be careful: the opposite of love is not hate;it's selfishness that's opposed to love, or to be more exact, sir, a sentiment you'll hear much talk of from now on, both good and ill: the spirit of self-preservation."- jean giono, le hussard sur le toit.

biodefense quarterly: the changing face of international security.more than 97% of population growth worldwide is happening at the lowest levels of income, with a corresponding decline in standard of living over the last twenty years. social equity seems to fall by the wayside in globalization. also, check the article on tularemia at the bottom after reading this interesting treatise.

local news announced that the santa fe art institute is giving shelter to 50 new york city/washington d.c. artists for two weeks to a month, to give them space to realize their creative vision and decompress from the wtc attacks. also, to enable them to interact with the people of santa fe, and share their feelings. i guess you could call it a live exercise in art therapy. if any of my readers are in new york city, and know some displaced or traumatized artists, send them this web address!

times of india: arabs say u.s. should punish israel too. link gives background to bin laden's "80-year" comment in the videotape: "... a reference to the 1917 balfour declaration, in which british foreign secretary a.j. balfour supported a national jewish home in palestine."

reuters: looks like cologne, germany is using the tokugawa shogunate solution to brothels. put 'em all in one spot; easier to police, easier to collect taxes. as a reader mentions in the discussion group, i do mean from an administrative standpoint.

to ameliorate my opening comment today, mall parking lots are thinner. but wal-mart and other similar venues are doing normal business, from my viewpoint. as with most recessions, people shun the luxuries first. malls are dying slowly; rental costs are high compared to your run-of-the-mill 'strip mall'. as movie theatres move to stadium seating, more are being built as separate venues. maybe this conflict will kill malls off permanently, and reinvigorate mercantile areas the public can *walk* to. but for me, when wal-mart starts posting slower sales as a long-term trend, that's when i will go into full-recession mode.

ny times op-ed: a time of reckoning. a interesting additional source to that iht article below. some strange conceptions among middle easterners about the wtc attacks: "... only 'international zionism possessed the means and the will to undertake this hideous act.'" huh?

ny times: alaska pipeline repaired. virtually no interruption in service, due to storage tanks. 840,000 gallons spilled, though. i hate to say it, but 'tis the season: shows how vulnerable this piece of engineering is to terrorist intervention.

i'm sure all of you are following news reports on the afghanistan attack elsewhere. i won't link unless i find something of particular interest. television/radio have the advantage while attacks are going on. try streaming media bbc or similar.

if this is truly to be a long-term conflict, how long before we assume the vietnam-war era fog of unconcern? america was engaged in a war, and life went on largely as usual.

in spite of general gloom-and-doom news reports, new mexico is doing fine. santa fe has been packed for the albuquerque balloon festival, and we have more international participation than one would expect given heightened security and freight issues. seventeen countries are participating this year. we're seeing many out-of-state license plates, yes, but many visitors flew to enjoy our balloon festival. i think there'll be a little uncertainty as the armed strikes against afghanistan continue, but so far noone is bailing out and heading home. auto traffic is high, just like every other year. the balloon festival goes on ...